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NASCAR Adjusts Spoiler Rules

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, January 21, 2002

NASCAR has given the Fords a quarter-inch decrease of the rear spoiler height for the season-opening Daytona 500 after six days of testing by all four auto makes used in Winston Cup racing.

Ford teams have been complaining that the Tauruses were at an aerodynamic disadvantage to the Chevrolets, Dodges and Pontiacs because of the current rules for Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway, the two tracks where carburetor restrictor plates are used to keep the cars under 200 mph.

Last week, on the final day of winter testing at the Daytona track, NASCAR allowed the Fords of Rusty Wallace and Andy Hillenburg, driving Ricky Rudd's car, to take several laps with first a quarter-inch spoiler decrease and then a half-inch.

"It felt a lot better, but we're still not going to be where the Chevrolets and Dodges are in single car qualifying," Wallace said.

Measurements for the rear spoilers on the Fords will now be 61/4 inches tall by 57 inches wide.

That's the same as the Chevrolets, while the Dodges and Pontiacs measure at 61/2 by 57.

"We went down to Daytona and it was clear that everyone was off," Stoddard said. "NASCAR said that they would make adjustments. The wind tunnel data showed in order for the Fords to compete with the Dodges, and the Pontiacs, we would need a six-inch spoiler.

"How we can overcome the deficit and still race competitively with the rule issued today is going to be very difficult in my opinion. "A GM product has won at least 12 of the last 16 restrictor-plate races. I don't see things changing in the near future."